I was woken up by the phone ringing in the middle of the night. A call at this hour must be urgent.
Without opening my eyes, I fumbled for the phone and pressed the answer button in the darkness.
Zhou Yingying's voice came through the receiver. With a tone of guilt, she said, "Huazi, I'm sorry. I had no choice. I can't expose him, or my whole family will die!"
As I suspected, Zhou Yingying and Principal Sun's relationship was more than just drug control. There was something deeper at play.
I said, "Are you alone? If it's convenient to talk, tell me the whole story. We'll address it directly and analyze how to solve this problem together."
She replied, "I'm alone now. Principal Sun was sent to the hospital and needs to be admitted. His family is with him, and I've returned to my place."
I asked, "Then tell me, how did he threaten to kill your whole family?"
She explained, "My family isn't from Ruicheng. My parents work in Ruicheng. They saved diligently to let me study at the best school there, and that's where I met Principal Sun at Ruicheng High School. After meeting him, he was very good to me, often buying me food and necessities. At that time, he only cared about me in terms of daily life, but there wasn't that kind of relationship yet. Later, he heard my parents were working very hard outside the city and arranged for them to work in his brother's factory, and found them a separate apartment to live in. He made my father a workshop director and my mother managed procurement in the cafeteria. Suddenly, they went from manual laborers to managers, and our family's life improved by more than just one notch. For this, our whole family was very grateful to him. We thanked him in various ways, but he never accepted, and in our home, he was like a savior. Naturally, we obeyed his every word. But he never asked us to do anything in return. Towards me, he acted like a model teacher. Besides meeting and showing concern, he never made any inappropriate advances. Until one day, he called me to his office alone. It was my first time in his office. It was large, with a study room at the entrance and a big desk covered with many books and files. Behind the desk was a screen, and beyond it, a small room with a bed for his rest. When I entered, he asked me to undress, not all at once, but slowly, piece by piece. After each piece, he would pause. He took pictures with a camera, and there were several lights in the room shining on me from different angles. I was very scared at the time, but I didn't dare refuse. I could only be at his mercy."
She paused, her voice devoid of emotion, as if recounting someone else's story.
She continued, "When I took off the last piece of clothing, he asked me to strike various poses. At that time, my mind was only on my studies; I had no impure thoughts. Suddenly, he treated me this way. My mind went blank. I even thought at the time that perhaps this was his way of educating people, a special form of care for me. He shot roll after roll of film. Only then did he ask me to go to the bathroom next to the bedroom to wash myself. I didn't think anything of it then, not knowing what would happen next. I obediently went to the shower to clean myself."
I knew what would happen next, and I understood the implication of the surname Sun taking photos. He cast a long line to catch a big fish, not only obtaining his prey but also holding it firmly in his grasp.
After a while, Zhou Yingying continued, "From then on, he gave me money to spend and bought me the best clothes. Later, I fell under Sister Lan's influence, pursuing vanity and the feeling of being surrounded by followers. My studies were neglected, but I became conceited and adrift. One day, he called me to his bedroom again. I can no longer remember how many times I had been called there. Many times, sometimes even when I had my period, he would do disgusting things I can't bring myself to say. I'm digressing. After completing his task as usual this time, he didn't let me leave. Instead, he told me to find a way to get into Teacher Li's bed, and if I couldn't, to have as much physical contact with him as possible. He didn't tell me why, but I dared not disobey him, so I looked for an opportunity. The next morning, Teacher Li had a class. I sat in the back row. When the teacher asked everyone to do problems, I raised my hand and said I had a question. The teacher, not wanting to disturb other students, came to my desk in the back row and asked me what the problem was. I grabbed his hand and pulled it towards me, saying, 'I have a problem here, and the teacher needs to answer it for me.' Teacher Li abruptly pulled his hand back. He was furious and almost raised his hand to hit me, but his hand never fell. Instead, he said indignantly, 'Student Zhou, please be dignified!' I lowered my head, afraid to speak. The teacher stomped his foot in anger and said loudly, 'You are all about to face the college entrance examination. If you don't focus on your studies, what are you thinking about all day?' He left the classroom without looking back. I knew my actions had infuriated him. I also knew my actions were wrong, but Principal Sun had instructed me to do it, and I dared not disobey. During lunch break, he called me to his office again and asked what I had done. I told him about what happened that morning. He happily took out a thousand yuan from his drawer and kissed me. Not on the lips; the place he kissed, I can't say. After a long time, he finally let me go when he was satisfied. He gave me no new instructions, and the matter seemed to have passed. Teacher Li continued to teach us diligently as usual and didn't treat me any differently. It was just that my mind was no longer on my studies, and in every practice test, I lowered the class average. After about two or three months, I can't remember exactly, but a long time had passed, Principal Sun said to me in bed, 'Teacher Li wants to frame me. I need you to help me do something.' I asked what I could do. He said, 'Just do as I say. This time, call him to help you with difficult problems. And this time, whether he touches you or not, you must loudly accuse him of touching your private parts. Make it as big as possible so everyone knows. Also, your clothes should be torn, preferably showing some skin.' I listened with my heart pounding. I said, 'Teacher Li isn't that kind of person. I can't do it.' He slapped me hard. This was the first time he hit me, and the first time he showed a ferocious expression. He said, 'It's best if you do whatever I tell you to do. If you don't obey, I'll release your photos to everyone and send your parents back to the countryside.' My parents were my weakness. I would rather endure more humiliation than let them be harmed. Besides, I had so many photos in his possession. Later, he took many more perverse pictures. He had them developed and put them in a large album. Even I dared not look at them. If I showed them to anyone else, I wouldn't want to live."